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Sunken cargo boat is salvaged
The 36-foot boat carrying 3,000-4,000 lbs of cargo from Saipan that sank at the Tinian Harbor was successfully salvaged on Wednesday.
There was a minor oil spill due to some leak but everything was captured by the containment boom, according to Tinian Department of Public Safety director Juan Santos.
Yesterday morning, divers hired by the boat’s owner, Huangshun Corp., cleaned the debris on the seafloor.
The Coastal Resources Management and the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality are assessing any damage possibly caused to the corals.
Santos said the vessel was towed, lifted, and loaded to a bigger boat on Wednesday at 4:30pm.
Santos said the salvage operation, which began with a briefing at 11am, was called off at 6pm.
At 7:30pm Wednesday, the boat carrying the vessel left for Saipan for repair.
The Tinian DPS director said a boom truck with a small crane was used in the salvage operation.
As the vessel was lifted, it spilled the remaining cargo that was on board, Santos said.
“Luckily, the containment boom was there,” he said.
Santos said there were some minor oil leak but not from the vessel’s main tank.
He said the U.S. Coast Guard was aware of the minor oil spill, which was captured by the containment boom.
Santos said he is thankful for the safe recovery of the sunken boat because of the collaboration of the Tinian Mayor’s Office, Tinian DPS, Tinian Division of Fish and Wildlife, Tinian Commonwealth Ports Authority, and Saipan’s DPS, CRM, BECQ, and Fish and Wildlife.
The boat reportedly lost propulsion as it was entering the Tinian Harbor Monday afternoon and completely sank that night as it was towed away from the reef.
The vessel’s captain and a crew were safely rescued by a Tinian DPS Boating Safety officer aboard a jet ski.
